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Saturday, February 07, 2009

Kalgan hopped on over to the forums to make a significant post that previews what can happen in Arena Season 6, the tiers of gear available, and what will happen to the Vault of Archavon. One of my fears going into the next Arena Season was that Archavon the Stone Watcher would lose his relevance, as he drops significantly lower tier gear a full season behind the current one. This would have greatly devalued control of Wintergrasp.

However, Kalgan reveals that a new boss in another wing of the Vault of Archavon will drop the Furious Gladiator pieces. He makes no mention of past season's gear, and says that the new boss' loot table will be structured slightly differently drom Archavon's. This could mean that the 10-man version can drop the Honor-bought non-set pieces rather than a lower tier of Arena gear and notes that the boss will not drop the chest piece. In the same post, he pegs the chest piece at a 1750 rating requirement, which should probably indicate that the boss will not drop items with a higher requirement (head, shoulder, weapon, etc.). This is an important announcement that ensures the relevance of Wintergrasp. The boss is also expected to drop Tier 8 pieces, making it equally appealing to PvE players.

One important change to the beginning of Season 6 will be that new teams and personal ratings are likely to start below the previous median of 1500, which will result in players climbing the ladder rather than dropping through it. This is a significant change to the system and should provide a more fulfilling experience for all manner of Arena play. He also details proposed costs for all the current Arena items as well as proposed ratings for the new Furious Gladiator gear.

Honor costs for the Hateful Gladiator set items are expected to match the current season's Savage Gladiator gear, while the non-set Deadly Gladiator pieces are expected to match Hateful Gladiator non-set items. Those aforementioned items will either be retired at the beginning of Season 6 or lowered in cost. I'm inclined to think they will be retired.

The Honor costs for the Furious Gladiator non-set pieces are expected to match the current Deadly Gladiator non-set pieces. Kalgan also indicates that these will drop off the new boss in the Vault of Archavon.UNSPECIFIED METHOD OF ACQUISITION / RATINGS REQUIREMENT1300+: Deadly Relics/Idols/Librams/Totems1350+: Deadly Gloves1400+: Deadly Legs1450+: Deadly Chest1500+: Deadly Helm1550+: Deadly Shoulders

Kalgan says that the Deadly Gladiator set pieces will not be as easily accessible as the current Hateful Gladiator items are with Emblems of Conquest, the new tier of raid emblems which will drop from Ulduar. Currently, all pieces of the Hateful Gladiator items are available through Emblems of Valor. It's quite possible that ratings requirements will still be required to purchase the items, only using a different currency.

Note that the lowest minimum requirement of any type is at 1300, which indicates that teams and players are likely to start Season 6 at a lower rating than past seasons, perhaps 1200 or lower. The spread between the Furious Gladiator set pieces is also very large compared to Season 5's Deadly Gladiator items. There is a massive spread in ratings between the lowest required ratings and highest required ratings, which is indicative of how the new Arena system and Blizzard's philosophy of putting players in their proper brackets. Kalgan importantly puts a disclaimer to everything, however, and mentions that all this information is subject to change. Still, it's a great insight into the process.

Curiously, the highest rating requirement belongs to the Furious Gladiator tabard. It is purely cosmetic but, as Kalgan says, "awesome-looking". At 2300, it is at a higher rating than any Arena item before it, even more difficult to obtain than the 2200 shoulders from Season 4. The changes are likely to come with Patch 3.1 or shortly thereafter, as these items are the PvP equivalent of Ulduar gear. When asked about when Blizzard will stop at the increasingly angry naming convention of Arena gear, Kalgan replies that they plan to stop right before "Foo Jackin' Gladiator". Amen to that. our Guide to Patch 3.1.